Flying without wings is entirely possible – our thoughts when looking at this lift by Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, photographed at 2025 Finlandia Trophy at the end of November.
For 26-year old Alisa, it was coming home: she is born in Kouvola, Finland – but it took many years, and lots of trying, for her to finally find the best partner and the best home to her skating.
From June 2023, Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov have been representing the United States of America and, entering 2026 US Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis, Missouri, they’re the current national champions. And if their programs have this air of beautiful complicity, it might be also because they got married in the process and they’re now facing all challenges as husband and wife.
At 2025 Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki, Alisa and Misha finished the event on the second place, behind Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin and ahead of teammates Ellie Kam and Daniel O’Shea – and we chose this beautiful picture of theirs, with Alisa as a bird, to start our photo-recap of the pairs event (official results here).
***
And this photo-story has loads of detailed images that we’re very proud of – look at just a few:
…and then indulge with all the photos we selected for you.
Featuring: Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, Ellie Kam and Daniel O’Shea, Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi, Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud, Zhang Jiaxuan and Huang Yihang, Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini.
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin, gold in Helsinki
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, silver in Helsinki
Ellie Kam and Daniel O’Shea, bronze in Helsinki
Pairs medalists at 2025 Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki
Yuna Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi
Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud
Zhang Jiaxuan and Huang Yihang
Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini
[Photos taken by Askar Ibragimov,
2025 Finlandia Trophy, Helsinki]
SEE MORE: